Bright Monday

/ Fr. Thomas Sandberg / 1 Comment

Christ Is Risen!

I woke up this morning to two things. First, upon waking I imediately learned of the passing of Pope Francis. Requiescat in pace.

Second, a parishoner who has a Spiritual Father on Mount Athos sent me a PDF that was sent to him from the Holy Mountain, so I found a version of it online, which I’ll link at the end.

I truly believe St. Symeon the New Theologian is extremely relevant for our modern stuation we all find ourselves living in, his insights are poignant for both our society as well as our ecclesiastical life.

Concerning the Resurrection of Christ by St. Symeon the New Theologian

Pascha 2025

/ Fr. Thomas Sandberg / 1 Comment

Christ Is Risen!

I can’t sleep (SSDD (Dreamcatcher, The Kingdom will know)). I guess it’s to be expected, as by nature, I’m a night person, and the last nine-ish days have been quite busy, and I’ve been staying up way late(r).

But every Lent, even before I was a priest, has had its difficulties. And this Lent continued the trend. But the journey we take with Lent, culminating with Holy Week and Pascha, contributes to our growth, and I feel I grew in the past 40+ days.

I remember last year’s Holy Saturday when I found out after the Vesperal Liturgy of the Protoanastasi that my old friend Teebs had died the day before. I called a friend of mine in BC – Teebs’ cousin – and got confirmation of the worst. I’ve had more than a few old friends pass, and I often wonder why the rest of us from my old friend group are still here. I like to think that the good die young, that those of us still here need more time to repent. God knows that I, a horrible sinner, still do.

Time moves fast. I was lost, but then I found Christ in the Orthodox Church, and now I’m blessed with the responsibility for my daughter, to teach her who Christ is, to lead her to the Light, and to show her The Way. It’s truly a weird feeling to look back at everything, the brutal absurdity of the journey from darkness to Christ, to look back and say, “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Weird also still to think I and my Presvytera are converts, but our daughter is a cradle Greek Orthodox Christian. We make plans, but God laughs – it is for us to humble ourselves and follow His plan no matter where it takes us, and no matter what it costs us.

I was baptized on Holy Saturday, 2011, and every year, I think back to that night, knowing how different life could be and how lost I could be.

Yet here we are.

Christ Is Risen!

I wish I could reach everyone I’ve encountered along the way – those born Orthodox, those searching, and those who couldn’t care less – and tell them all: there is Light at the end of the tunnel. The Light shines in the darkness and the darknes does not understand. καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν. Do we understand? There is a choice we must make, to keep going the wrong way, or to humble ourselves and correct course. Never easy, but then again, anything easy is never actually worth doing.

I remember the visceral feeling when I read Teebs’ obituary, but one line stood out to me like a bout of retrocognition: “Tyler’s formative years were spent on his Grandmother Betty Wiebe’s farm, where he and many of his friends forged cherished memories that would last a lifetime.” I know who wrote that obituary, and God bless you, as that is an amazing, beautiful and PG way of saying what needed to be said.

God bless you, Betty, and forgive us for all the worry we put you through.

Reflecting back on the Lent, Holy Week and Pascha of 2024 and 2025, what I know is that life is a strange and odd journey up the mountain, and although many of us – baptized Orthodox or not – waste our time in sensory pursuits and choose instead to sit still and make no progress, or worse yet to get off the mountain and enter the swamp – God’s mercy is greater than our ignorance and our indifference. And thank God because, for me, that is far too often far too true.

“I’m okay, but kinda upset

Told my mum I’m doing my best

It’s too late to go and get rest

So I’m gonna live in my head” -Hazlett

Recommended Reading for Orthodox Christians (Updated, Halloween 2025)

/ Fr. Thomas Sandberg / 2 Comments

Lately I find myself being asked, “what should I read?” and so here is my attempt at what I think Eastern Orthodox Christians living in Canada should read. This list is not exhaustive, and if there is anything anyone reading this thinks should be added, please let me know.

Disclaimer: as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases via the links found in this blog post.

Άλήθεια Έλληνική: The Authority of the Greek Old Testament by Catherine Brown Tkacz

Angels & Demons: A Patristic Perspective by Harry Boosalis

A Night in the Desert of the Holy Mountain by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

An Altar in the Wilderness by Fr. Kaleeg Hainsworth

As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl: by John Colapinto

Becoming Orthodox: A Journey to the Ancient Christian Faith by Fr. Peter E. Gilquist

Beginning to Pray by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Catholics by Brian Moore

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution by Michael J. Behe

Disputations With Pyrrhus of our Father Among the Saints Maximus the Confessor translated by Joseph P. Farrell

Early Christian Writers: The Apostolic Fathers trans. by Maxwell Staniforth

(Faith Series Book 2 of 4) The Way: What Every Protestant Should Know About the Orthodox Church by Clark Carlton

(Faith Series Book 3 of 4) Truth: What Every Roman Catholic Should Know About the Orthodox Church by Clark Carlton

Free Choice in St. Maximus the Confessor by Joseph P. Farrell

God’s Revelation to the Human Heart by Fr. Seraphim Rose

Great Lent: Journey to Pascha by Fr. Alexander Schmemann

Great Week and Pascha in the Greek Orthodox Church by Fr. Alkiviadis C. Calivas

His Life is Mine by St. Sophrony of Essex

Marriage: An Orthodox Perspective by Fr. John Meyendorff

Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age by Fr. Seraphim Rose

1984 by George Orwell

Of Water and Spirit: A Liturgical Study of Baptism by Fr. Alexander Schmemann

On Marriage and Family Life by St. John Chrysostom

On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ by St. Maximus the Confessor

On the Ecclesiastical Mystagogy by St. Maximus the Confessor

On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius of Alexandria

On the Soul and the Resurrection by St. Gregory of Nyssa

On the Unity of Christ by St. Cyril of Alexandria

Origen and the History of Justification: The Legacy of Origen’s Commentary on Romans by Thomas P. Scheck

Orthodox Theology: An Introduction by Vladimir Lossky

Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future by Fr. Seraphim Rose

Prophet of Roman Orthodoxy: The Theology of John Romanides by Andrew J. Sopko

Russia, Ritual, and Reform: The Liturgucal Reforms of Nikon in the 17th Century by Paul Meyendorff

Six Books on the Priesthood by St. John Chrysostom

The Book of Enoch the Prophet by R.H. Charles

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christuian Monks trans by Benedicta Ward

The Epistle of St. James: A Commentary by Archbishop Dimitri Royster

The First-Created Man by St. Symeon the New Theologian

The Gurus, the Young Man, and Elder Paisios by Dionysios Farasiotis

The Missionary Origins of Modern Ecumenism: Milestones Leading Up to 1920 by Fr. Peter Heers

The Mountain of Silence: A Search for Orthodox Spirituality by Kyriacos C. Markides

The Mystagogy of the Holy Spirit by St. Photios, trans. by Joseph P. Farrell

The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church by Vladimir Lossky

The New Testament: A Translation by David Bentley Hart (paperback, 1st Edition)

The Orthodox Church by Metropoltan Kalistos Ware

The Orthodox Veneration of Mary the Birthgiver of God by St. John Maximovitch

The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church by Fr. Seraphim Rose

The Prologue to the Philokalia by St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain trans. by V. Rev. Archimandrite Maximos Constas

The Soul After Death by Fr. Seraphim Rose

The Triads by St. Gregory Palamas trans. by Nicholas Gendle

The Winter Pascha: Readings for the Christmas-Epiphany Season by Fr. Thomas Hopko

Theosis: The True Purpose of Human Life by Archimandrite Geogre

Two Hundred Chapters on Theology by St. Maximus the Confessor

Unseen Warfare as edited by St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain and revised by St. Theophan the Recluse

CBC & Gender 2017

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One summer, as we drove back to Manitoba from beautiful Waterton Lakes National Park, the first of these two podcasts played on the radio on our Toyota Rav 4. It is rather interesting to think how different Canadian society is now in June 2023. As we begin what is known as Pride Month to some, as National Indigenous History Month to others, and to the rest as June, I figured I’d share the links below. 

12 August 2017 – Guys and Dolls: Gender Marketing

17 August 2017 – Guys and Dolls: Gender Marketing, Part II

Be Bear Aware

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What a crazy moment we’re living through. And here in Manitoba, it was even more difficult for me as we had to close down all the trails below the 53rd parallel due to extreme fire hazard. But glory be to God, we got rain! So, my Presbytera and I were able to hike in Whiteshell Provincial Park – and we even had an up-close black bear encounter.

Of course, I had my bear spray; thankfully, I didn’t need to use it. On that trail, I saw no one else with bear spray and considering the time of year it is, that’s just going out unprepared.

These lockdowns and violations of our Charter Rights and Freedoms have made getting out and into nature so much more therapeutic for me. Last October, we camped and hiked in Riding Mountain National Park, and we went there again in February and stayed in some accommodations in the extreme cold. Tomorrow we head back to camp at Lake Audy – much needed.

The trees, wildlife, lakes, and trails touch me deep within. The wilderness – and especially Canada’s National Parks – are beautiful beyond accurate description. Nature is a great teacher that reveals the artificiality of our modern life. The smells awaken the soul and, feeling the wind on your skin – whether atop a mountain in BC or Alberta, or just a high hill in Manitoba, energizes and uplifts the human spirit.

In high school English class, I remember being taught about three literary conflicts, man vs man, man vs himself, and man vs nature. I think there is a fourth, man vs society. Heading out into nature, depending on the activity, is one or more of those. But still, no matter what the adventure, when I’m out there, I look around and think of Psalm 103. I can’t hardly wait to be out in Riding Mountain National Park this weekend, and if you’ve never been, I suggest you go – but don’t forget your bear spray.

Matthew 1-14: A Handbook on the Greek Text by Wesley G. Olmstead

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Matthew 1-14: A Handbook on the Greek Text by Wesley G. Olmstead

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I was really looking forward to this book when I pre-ordered it. At first, I liked it, but it proves to have a few negatives as you go on with it. Obviously, this review contains my subjective opinion based upon my own needs as a reader of the GNT. It is not intended to reflect upon Olmstead, who had his own reasons for writing as he did and interacting with his own choice of reference works.

-I’m not sure if Olmstead is following NA28 or the SBLGNT. It appears at times to be one or the other but not one exclusively, and the SBLGNT is not of much value other than to quote a GNT that is free to distribute.
-It is difficult to use as a “handbook” because it points back to previous pages rather than explaining it for that particular verse (p. 344).
-The first volume even points the reader to the second volume at least three times (these turn out to be not a big deal, and Olmstead could have omitted them with no loss of knowledge).
-Points back to parts that point you back to another part, i.e., p. 313 points you to p. 27, which points you to p. 12, and after all that page-flipping still doesn’t address what he originally sent you searching for: “on ὁ δέ followed by a participle, see 2:9 on ἀκούσαντες.”
-Multiple times per page, Olmstead does this. On p. 313 alone, 10 times he tells the reader to look elsewhere
-Brutally maximalist grammar with far too much reliance on the work of Steven Runge and the Lexham Discourse Greek New Testament. See p. 8 on transformational grammar and hypothetical sentences; this is referenced throughout the first volume after this mention

It will be a long time until I sit myself down to read through the second volume, and to be fair, this is the first complete volume in the Baylor Handbook on the GNT that I’ve read cover-to-cover. I have referenced the volumes on Mark, the Epistles of John, and the Apocalypse, so perhaps much of my dislike is due to editorial activity and not Olmstead’s choices. Either way, to end on a positive note, I must commend Olmstead on his treatment of the so-called historical present, and I saw that David Bentley Hart’s translation of the New Testament is in the bibliography, which was nice to see; the way Hart addressed the historical present in his translation is the same so far as I can tell. And in the end, this book is worth buying; there is still a lot here, even if it’s not the most accessible.



View all my reviews

Spit & Touch

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I try to read one page from the Greek New Testament in the mornings, and the last bit of my reading stood out to me today. Mark 7:31-37:

Καὶ πάλιν ἐξελθὼν ἐκ τῶν ὁρίων Τύρου ἦλθεν διὰ Σιδῶνος εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν τῆς Γαλιλαίας ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ὁρίων Δεκαπόλεως. 32 καὶ φέρουσιν αὐτῷ κωφὸν καὶ μογιλάλον καὶ παρακαλοῦσιν αὐτὸν ἵνα ἐπιθῇ αὐτῷ τὴν χεῖρα. 33 καὶ ἀπολαβόμενος αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄχλου κατ̓ ἰδίαν ἔβαλεν τοὺς δακτύλους αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰ ὦτα αὐτοῦ, καὶ πτύσας ἥψατο τῆς γλώσσης αὐτοῦ, 34 καὶ ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐστέναξεν καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· ἐφφαθά, ὅ ἐστιν διανοίχθητι. 35 καὶ ἠνοίγησαν αὐτοῦ αἱ ἀκοαί, καὶ ἐλύθη ὁ δεσμὸς τῆς γλώσσης αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐλάλει ὀρθῶς. 36 καὶ διεστείλατο αὐτοῖς ἵνα μηδενὶ λέγωσιν· ὅσον δὲ αὐτοῖς διεστέλλετο, αὐτοὶ μᾶλλον περισσότερον ἐκήρυσσον. 37 καὶ ὑπερπερισσῶς ἐξεπλήσσοντο λέγοντες· καλῶς πάντα πεποίηκεν καὶ τοὺς κωφοὺς ποιεῖ ἀκούειν καὶ ἀλάλους λαλεῖν.

Imagine how appalled most of us Christians would be if they saw Christ healing in such a manner in 2020? And before you interject to defend yourself, the situation is not different and I urge you to grab your New Testament and read how many of Christ’s healings came through physical touch and what kinds of ill people he was touching.

ὦ γενεὰ ἄπιστος…

Mark 7:19

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7:19 ὅτι οὐκ εἰσπορεύεται αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν καρδίαν, ἀλλ̓ εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν, καὶ εἰς τὸν ἀφεδρῶνα ἐκπορεύεται, καθαρίζον πάντα τὰ βρώματα.

καθαρίζον πάντα τὰ βρώματα. This is an interesting example of how the difference in grammatical gender can cause a different understanding and much confusion. In the Byzantine Text as seen in the Patriarchal Text above, καθαρίζον is present active participle nominative neuter singular of καθαρίζω, and due to it being neuter, we get the understanding of “purging/cleansing all foods” and is apart of what Jesus is explaining to the disciples. However, the non-Byzantine reading (I have seen it in the Alexandrian and Caesarian Text-types, which is not difficult to find) is καθαρίζων, being masculine rather than neuter, and thus referring back to Jesus in verse 18 (which begins, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς·) and leads to the understanding that the words are not a part of what Jesus is explaining, but rather a comment by St. Mark, namely that Jesus in explaining the parable is “cleansing all foods” (the participle is present tense); and this is the reading Origen, St. Gregory The Wonder-Worker, and St. John Chrysostom have, καθαρίζων.

The Patristic witness leads me to conclude two textual options: 1. The Byzantine text has the wrong reading here, and it should be the masculine, or 2. The Byzantine text has the original reading here, and the Text that Origen and St. Gregory used had been corrupted. A problem that comes to mind is that if St. Chrysostom used the Byzantine Text (as most people say), then why does his Byzantine Text read καθαρίζων and our current Byzantine Text(s) read καθαρίζον? I need to find time to look through von Soden’s manuscripts (K, Kx, Kr etc.) to see the texts for myself to go further here; at any rate, the UBS5 apparatus does inform us that the Byzantine Text is divided on this reading whereas Byz2005 doesn’t (my Byz2018 is in a box in another Province, so I cannot check it at the moment). But also we could think of the wording as constructio ad sensum, which is what David Bentley Hart (who translated from the Critical Text, thus καθαρίζων) appears to have done: “purging away everything that has been eaten?” (UBS5 has a Greek question mark at the end, as Hart translated.)

A few words about how we see this played out in Orthodox translations. First, we ignore The Orthodox Study Bible here because its New Testament is unfortunately translated from the Textus Receptus. Secondly, The Holy Apostles Convent Evangelistarion mistranslated this passage; they translated from the Patriarchal Text thus: this He said making all the foods clean. We read in the notes that the translator arrived at this translation probably under the influence of Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament or A.T. Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament and from misidentifying the neuter καθαρίζον for the masculine καθαρίζων. However, the translator does support their translation by appealing to St. John Chrysostom (as discussed above). And finally, the EOB New Testament has both readings, but the translator put the correct reading—καθαρίζον, according to the Greek of the Patriarchal Text—in the footnote, “thus purging all foods” and added a question mark in the main text, as found in the Critical Text(s).

Footnotes can be found here.